Thursday, October 1, 2026
As Baldwin students prepare to return to school next month, where free breakfast and lunch await them each day, another source of meals is wrapping up its busiest season. Throughout the summer, the Baldwin Public Library quietly served as a lunchtime stop for hundreds of children whose access to school cafeterias paused when classes ended in June.
In partnership with Island Harvest, a Melville-based hunger relief organization, the library has served nearly 700 lunches this summer. The federally funded Summer Food Service Program helps bridge the gap for children who lose access to school meals while classes are out, providing nutritious lunches throughout the summer.
The library and Island Harvest have partnered for more than a decade to provide the meals, a collaboration both organizations say is rooted in a shared commitment to addressing childhood food insecurity. Assistant Library Director Kaysha Watson-Phillips has coordinated the program for the past seven years.
“Food insecurity is a big part of the reason why we continue to partner with Island Harvest to offer this program,” Watson-Phillips said. “I don’t want children going hungry when school is out and they don’t have regular access to meals.”
During the school year, every student in the Baldwin Union Free School District receives free breakfast and lunch through New York state’s Universal School Meals Program and the federal Community Eligibility Provision. When classes end for the summer, however, families who rely on those meals must find other ways to put food on the table.
School meals provide many families with a reliable source of nutritious food while helping reduce grocery costs, Superintendent Anthony Mignella said. During the summer months, families may often face higher food expenses, changes in work schedules, transportation challenges and limited access to affordable, healthy meals.
“Proper nutrition plays a critical role in a child’s physical growth, cognitive development and emotional well-being,” Mignella said. “When children have consistent access to healthy meals, they are also more focused and better prepared to learn and thrive in school.”
Baldwin's program reflects a broader need across Long Island. According to Island Harvest, nearly 24,000 children in Nassau County and more than 54,000 across Long Island experience food insecurity, a 20 percent increase from 2023 to 2024. The organization expects to provide 78,000 free summer meals this year — a 62 percent increase over 2025 — as demand for assistance continues to grow.
"Long Island is home to some of the wealthiest ZIP codes in the country, yet food insecurity exists in nearly every ZIP code on Long Island," Amanda Chirco, Island Harvest's director of development, said.
At the Baldwin Public Library, the program operates quietly but consistently. Each weekday morning, meals prepared by an Island Harvest vendor are delivered to the library, refrigerated by staff and distributed between noon and 1 p.m. to any child or teen age 18 or younger. Watson-Phillips said participation has remained relatively steady from year to year, with families returning throughout the summer for the weekday meal service.
Meals follow U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition guidelines and rotate throughout the summer. Lunches include options such as turkey and cheese or chicken sandwiches, pizza kits, fresh fruit, vegetables and milk.
Watson-Phillips said the library’s central location and welcoming atmosphere make it an ideal site for the program. As an open meal site, families do not have to register or provide proof of income, eliminating barriers that might otherwise prevent children from receiving a meal.
Chirco said libraries are ideal meal sites because they are trusted community hubs that already serve children and families through summer programming.
“The partnership helps combat hunger, nourish young minds and bodies, and strengthen the library’s role as an essential community resource,” she said.
The lunch program also introduces families to the library's broader role in the community. In addition to lending books and offering educational programming, the library provides social work, passport and notary services, public computers and a variety of programs throughout the year.
“We engage our community and aspire to be a safe space,” Watson-Phillips said. “We try to bridge the gap between people and services.”
Families often return throughout the summer, and Watson-Phillips said seeing familiar faces has become one of the most rewarding parts of coordinating the program.
"It's just wonderful to see the happy and grateful faces each day," she said.
Mignella said partnerships among schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations help extend support beyond the classroom. By sharing resources and connecting families with community services, he said, those collaborations strengthen the support network available to children and families throughout the year.
In a few weeks, Baldwin students will once again return to cafeterias where breakfast and lunch are served each school day. Until then, the library's summer meal program serves as a reminder that keeping children nourished is a year-round effort shared by schools, nonprofits and community organizations working together.
"Access to those meals helps kids thrive — providing fuel to learn, to play and to grow," Chirco said. "The Summer Food Service Program helps ensure that children are receiving the nutrition they need to set them up for success when they return to school in the fall."
